How To Remove Email Addresses To Avoid Mishaps Due To Autocomplete

Some programs that were designed to make your life simpler can actually make it more embarrassing. Autocorrect in text messaging probably comes to mind. But there is also the autocomplete function in Apple’s mail app. Once you start typing an address in the “to” line of an email, the app checks your address book and will autocomplete it for you if it begins with the first letters of a name that is already there. This is often good, but it can also create problems.

Autocomplete embarrassments

Obviously, if you do not double check the “to” field before sending the email it might go to the wrong person. You might say, but I do not have that many people I email. Well, you may not realize that you may have a lot of old contacts in your address book that you never email. Brian Sawyer discussed this problem on the O’Reilly Answers website. This issue might cause you to send an important business email to someone you never speak to, and you might never even know it. The person you meant to send it to won’t ever receive it and an email containing private information could be read by the wrong person.

Removing autocomplete email addresses

Fortunately, if you are aware of what emails are getting pulled up often, then you can easily erase them from your address book. To do this when you are in Mail, click the “Window” tab. After you select “Previous Recipients,” search for the email address that you want to remove, highlight it and click “Remove From List.”

Monitoring is key

Removing an address doesn’t guarantee that it won’t return to your address book. Even collaborating with a person on a Google Doc will add the address to your address book. So, the easiest way to ensure that these confusions don’t happen in the future is to make sure you check your address book, and double check the “to” field before clicking “Send.”

How can we help you?

Give us a call

Keep your operations running smoothly, 24/7/365 with Netsurit’s managed IT services. Are you busy putting out IT fires instead of focusing on your business? If your technology is draining your resources rather than optimizing them, Netsurit can get you back

Purchasing a new suite of software for your company like Office 365 can be daunting. With loads of new features, and of course, old features in new places, it can take a while for even seasoned users to figure out the new landscape.

The team at Netsurit wants to make your life – and your Office 365 experience – so much easier with our free 4 part video series on “How to be Awesome at Office 365”.

Fill in the form on the right and we’ll send you the link to the first video and start you on your journey to Office 365 awesomeness.

Just some of the features we cover with step-by-step instructions include: